COEUR d’ALENE — For anyone who is feeling a bit jaded or cynical this holiday season, Caden Butera has the remedy for you.

"The same reason I like filmmaking is the same reason I like Christmas in a lot of ways," Caden said Friday afternoon, cozy on a couch with his family. "You bring a lot of people together under the mutual goal to have fun and make something great if you can."

And make something great he did.

The young filmmaker released a short musical film online Saturday that reminds people about the joys of Christmas.

Its title: "It's a Good December."

"It’s about a guy who’s about my age, a Millenial, and he thinks Christmas is stupid and a corporate invention, things I've heard a lot of my peers say in the past," the 19-year-old Coeur d'Alene High School grad said. "So taking that approach, I made that character think all those things and start proclaiming it to this public area, and the (people) prove him wrong by singing this nice little Christmas song about what Christmas is actually about."

The film short follows two lead characters, local theater actor CJ Lorentz and Taylor Wenglikowski of Coeur d'Alene, as they walk through The Plaza Shops. Lorentz's character's bah-humbuggery contrasts the cheerful demeanor of Wenglikowski's character, until a merry band of singers and dancers propels them on the journey from jaded to jolly.

"The ‘I’m too cool to wear a Christmas sweater,’ that’s a big part of it. Every single character in this is wearing a ridiculous Christmas sweater except the main character, who thinks he’s too cool for it," Caden said. "I think no one is too cool for a Christmas sweater, but that’s just my opinion."

Caden did not embark on this festive film adventure alone. While he wrote the lyrics and script, directed and edited the filming and managed the technical side, his entire family also chipped in. His brother, Rylan, 17, composed and arranged the original music for the film's titular song. His parents held practices in their basement, organized the choreography and performed as dancers, all while providing complete moral support for their creative kiddos.

"The two of them are super close,” dad Mark said after sharing that he found them cracking up at 1 a.m. Friday while they worked on finishing touches. "They’re so different, but they’re so cohesive."

This wasn't Caden's first shot at making a film. He wrote and directed a comedy horror flick, "Misdirection," for his senior project, which screened at the Hayden Discount Cinema.

"My passion has been film since I was like 8 years old,” said Caden, who just started his own business, Paradox Studios. "I’m always doing passion projects of any kind. Just like my other ones, ('A Good December') was just for the sake of me wanting to have fun, get together with people and make something cool."

The entire "December" film was shot in two weekend days earlier this month. The cast and crew totaling about 50 people took over the Shops for eight hours each day of shooting, starting at 6 a.m.

"They were incredibly accommodating,” Caden said of The Plaza Shops team. "We had like 30-plus people dancing around in their shops, playing music, throwing props, just all sorts of stuff."

The dancers included a diverse age range, from 15-year-old high school students to a toe-tapping, 81-year-old grandmother.

Rylan said he knows everyone involved really enjoyed being a part of it.

"Those people were really happy to be there and having a whole bunch of fun," he said. "That in itself was kind of the Christmas spirit of bringing a whole bunch of people who didn’t know each other together in one group and singing and dancing and having a fun time."

"It's a Good December" is available for viewing on YouTube at https://youtu.be/HJXiZXe2zlQ or on the Paradox Studios Facebook page, www.facebook.com/paradoxstudiosfilms.